The Lying Continues
by brendadelfino
Summary: The Liars keep trying to piece things together after Spencer's arrest and Mona's death.
1. Chapter 1

"How many spoons of sugar?" Ezra asked, setting down the two mugs on the coffee table and heading back to the kitchen.

"Sorry, what?" I asked, shifting position on the couch.

For the last few days, my mind had been a chaos. Not only had there been a new murder in Rosewood but on top of that, Spencer had been arrested for allegedly murdering Bethany Young, one of the most outrageous things I had heard in a long time. Apparently, they had had enough evidence to lock her up. Her parents were quickly working on getting her out and according to what they had told my mom, they would have her out in a matter of hours. Ever since that day, there had been a terrifying idea stuck in my head that I just couldn't shake.

"I know you said you weren't in the mood to talk about it… But you don't seem alright," he replied, taking a seat beside me.

"I-I'm shocked… We weren't exactly friends, but she did help us and apologize. And I hate seeing Hanna and Mike so miserable."

I sipped my chamomile and Ezra softly patted my other arm. Although he was usually good at making me feel better, there were too many things on my mind. Even though I told no one, I still had nightmares about Shana.

"I really hope they catch whoever did that to her. Nobody deserves to die like that."

It had been horrible. When Shana had died there hadn't been that much blood. She had put up a fight, but she hadn't been able to survive.

"Ezra… I have this feeling."

He shot me a strange look and cleared his throat, clearly feeling awkward.

"No, not a Grunwald-type feeling," I assured him.

He seemed to breathe out in relief.

"Mona told me something before she was killed. She called me… and said she had proof that Alison is A."

Ezra opened his mouth but then quickly shut it. He fidgeted with his mug but he didn't seem as shocked as I had expected him to be.

"You don't seem surprised."

"Well…it makes sense."

I nodded, knowing he was right. Of course it made sense, it had been our first thought when we had started receiving the texts. But now Alison was back and it wasn't the same.

"So you think she killed Mona?" he continued for me.

"I don't know. I can't even say it out loud."

Ezra put his arms around me and pulled me closer. I sighed and closed my eyes, trying to forget anything having to do with Alison. Even when she wasn't around, she had a horrible way of destroying things.

"We've gotta get going," he said, pulling away, "The funeral starts in half an hour."

I stood up, smoothing out my dress. It saddened me that this was just one of the many funerals I had attended. Ezra took my hand, and I realized I should probably be supporting my brother instead of being at his apartment. But I had gone there without thinking. Like many times before, it was my safe haven.

"It'll be okay," he insisted, flashing me a small smile.

I heard my phone ring and pulled it out of my purse.

_I told you. Nosey bitches die. Who's next? -A_


	2. Chapter 2

The picture of Mona in front of her casket depicted a teenager smiling wide, looking as carefree as ever. Yet her life had been nothing like that. She had been constantly haunted by what Alison had done to her. Sure, she had done some pretty bad things but I didn't think anyone would ever know all the suffering she was put through. I really hoped she could finally be in peace.

Hanna stifled a sob as she took a seat on the pew. Emily and I held her hands as she stared ahead blankly, tears pouring out of her eyes. I spotted Mona's mom at the front looking completely distraught. I couldn't understand how anyone would be able to do this to someone. Until I thought of Shana. Her mother had also probably cried uncontrollably and her friends had probably had huge knots in their throats too.

Mike had decided not to come. He said he didn't need to come to a stupid funeral where half the people didn't know who she really was. Maybe he was right.

After the ceremony, Hanna decided to go home, accompanied by Caleb. But I was desperate to talk about all that had happened, and so was Emily. She drove me to her house, where we pondered possible explanations while laying on her bed.

"What could Mona have found that's so revealing that she was killed?" Emily thought out loud.

"I wish we had the evidence that Alison is A. Then we could just take it to the police or something."

"Yeah, like they're much help. Spencer is locked up," Emily reminded me.

"I know, but the police are supposed to help innocent people."

"We're not exactly innocent, Aria."

"Hey, at least we didn't kill Bethany Young. Or stalk our friends," I mumbled.

"Aria… Promise me you won't tell anyone I said this but… Are we one hundred percent sure Spencer didn't kill her? "

"Yes! We're sure. I know Spencer isn't looking very innocent at the moment, but Alison freaking lured Bethany into Rosewood. She probably gave her the same clothes as her. It was Alison's doing, no doubt."

Emily nodded and switched on the television, where the local news were reporting on Mona's death. Holbrook's statement in front of her house sent chills down my spine.

"Do you think Mona left behind Bethany Young's files?" Emily asked, standing up.

"Are you suggesting we go to her house, where she was murdered in cold blood?"

Emily did have a point, but Mona's house was probably the creepiest place in Rosewood at the moment.

"Won't there be police tape and stuff?" I asked, thinking up an excuse to not go.

"They've already removed it and the place has been cleaned up. Mona's parents have to keep living there."

"Right. And why would they let us in?"

"They'll let us in. Come on," she insisted, tugging my hand.

She was right. One of Mona's relatives opened the door for us. Apparently, some of the people from the funeral had gone there afterwards. We blended right in and managed to get upstairs with the excuse of looking for a bathroom.

Entering her room wasn't pleasant. It felt too similar to when Alison had "died". Her room looked impeccable, but I remembered where the blood had been. Even though there were no traces left, I could picture it clearly in my head.

"I don't know if this was such a good idea," Emily squeaked.

I mustered up all the courage I could.

"We're already here so let's look around."

There was nothing useful in view, which was expected. Mona didn't seem the type to keep such important things for anyone to find. We rummaged around a bit but didn't manage to find anything. Moments after we left her house, we got a call from Spencer.

"Guys, we need to talk ASAP," she hurriedly said, "Meet me at my house in ten."

Emily seemed as surprised as I was. We were glad Spencer was set free, of course. But the way in which she had spoken was alarming. Had she found out anything new?

When we entered Spencer's house, we realized Hanna was there too. She offered us a small smile, but her eyes were red. As soon as she had shut the door, Spencer began talking at top speed.

"Mrs. Dilaurentis had an affair with Bethany's dad. We found it out at Radley."

I looked over at Hanna, wondering if she would start crying again at the mention of Mona. I went over to her and clasped her hand in my mine.

"We stopped by Mona's to look for Bethany's files but they were nowhere to be seen," Emily explained.

"A took them," Spencer said, decidedly.

Hanna let go of my hand.

"You mean Alison?" Hanna spoke up, seeming a bit angry. "We don't need to pretend like it isn't her anymore. Mona said she had found proof."

"Okay, _Alison_ took them. And it's no wonder. They connect her to Bethany."

"So, what are we supposed to do now?" I asked.

"We have to find some sort of evidence to show the police. If Alison is in jail, she can't be A anymore," Spencer replied, matter-of-factly.

"Hanna, what are you drinking?" Emily snapped.

I turned to look at her. Somehow she had wandered away and managed to find a whiskey bottle. I couldn't look her in the eye. Each person deals with grief in different ways and it wasn't my call to make.

"Nothing," she simply replied, grabbing a glass from the counter.

"Look, I think Holbrook will be looking for any other clue to send me back to jail and permanently. So we really need to be on top of this."

"I can try to find out more at Radley," I offered, not sure how else to help Spencer.

"Good idea. I'll try to question Noel. Emily, do you think Paige would be willing to help?"

"I think so, what do you have in mind?"

"Can she get into Ali's army?"

"Woah. I don't know. I'll have to talk to her. Do you think Ali would even buy it?"

"We could stage it. Talk to her and then we can all decide what to do," Spencer finished.

We all looked at each other. I realized we were all in pretty bad shape. The normal A craziness was enough as is, but all the extras being thrown in lately were too much. All of us sported dark circles under our eyes and didn't smile as much. Was this how it was always going to be? The four of us on the run from A, unable to have normal relationships with anyone and secretly condemned to suffering?


	3. Chapter 3

Going to Radley wasn't exactly a pleasant experience. It always made me sad to see the patients in their condition. But watching them paint and express all the things they were sometimes afraid to say out loud was gratifying. Even though I had an ulterior motive for being there, it was also nice to know that I was helping out while doing it.

Rhonda seemed to like me more ever since I gave her the soda and chips in exchange for Bethany's sketchbook. It was probably due to the fact that she was waiting for another opportunity like it.

I approached the table where Rhonda was sitting, looking very concentrated on her drawing. As soon as she heard me approaching, she dropped her pencil and stared at me blankly. I hoped she wouldn't react violently.

"Hi, Rhonda," I said in my sweetest voice, taking a seat across from her.

"Are you here to know more about Bethany?" she instantly demanded. Luckily, no one overheard.

"Rhonda, I really need your help. My friend could go to jail for something she didn't do."

"I can tell you what I remember. For another bag of chips, of course."

I doubted whether I should give it to her. But I couldn't bring myself to buy her something that obviously wasn't good for her health, no matter how much I wanted the information.

"I can't. It's bad for you."

I was hoping she would understand and empathize, but she just grunted and turned her attention back to her drawing, ignoring me. It was upsetting, but I knew I had done the right thing.

"Aria, could you go to Linda's desk, please?" one of the nurses told me as I got up.

Linda was the main secretary at Radley. She was in charge of all the boring paperwork and filing. I left the recreation room and headed over to her desk.

She told me she needed me to fill out some extra forms. As she was looking through one of the file cabinets labeled _volunteers_, the phone rang. After she had hung up, she explained she needed to head over to the archive room and apologized for making me wait. I understood she was busy, so I didn't mind at all.

As soon as she was down the hall, I realized that her desk was tucked into a corner out of view and that I was left alone with the file cabinets. I knew I shouldn't, but since Rhonda hadn't been of much help, I needed to feel like I gave my one hundred percent to help Spencer. I quickly gazed over the labels until I found the _Patients 2009_ one. There should be something about her in there, since Alison disappeared on the first of September of that year, I figured.

I pulled the handle, but it was locked. Why hadn't I seen it before? I turned to the desk to look for the key, but instead saw a computer. There was a window open with the Radley logo and it wasn't password protected as far as I could tell. I looked around, hoping Linda wouldn't come back soon.

I didn't really understand the program, but there was a search box at the top right, so I decided to type in Bethany's name. While it was loading, I thought I heard a noise, but nobody appeared, so I figured I might be imagining things. As soon as the results loaded, I got a page with links to different dates. I opened one and realized they were the summaries of her sessions.

Overwhelmed, I didn't know what to do. Should I take pictures with my phone or try to send them to myself? Would printing them out be too obvious? I decided the best option was to read as much as I could. It would be safer that way.

All the files seemed to be scanned and had a red _confidential_ stamp on them. That made me a bit nervous, since reading that kind of information without permission was probably some kind of crime.

_Transcription of session 42: "…I love new clothes. My dad doesn't really understand about what's cute so it was really nice of her to get me this. It's weird, because I didn't know she liked me that much."_

As I read, I was both horrified and excited because I had such important information in front of me. But soon, I started feeling more and more scared. Had Alison really planned on killing this girl?

I couldn't read any further because a new window popped up in front of the one I had been on. _Deleting files…10%_ it read. I frantically tried to click the red x on the top right of the window, but it didn't do anything. It reached one-hundred percent before I could react and where all the links had been before, there was now an empty window with the words _No results found._

I closed the search, in case Linda returned, but feeling completely useless. I had been so close. As I moped, my phone beeped.

_Always one step ahead. We're all in this together, bitch. -A_


End file.
